Merzouga & Erg Chebbi: the Sahara desert guide (travelling light)

There is a moment, somewhere on the road through southern Morocco, when the landscape tips over. The palm groves thin out, the tarmac shimmers with heat, and then a wall of orange sand rises on the horizon, almost unreal: the Erg Chebbi. Near the village of Merzouga, these giant dunes climb to around 150 metres and change colour with every hour of the day. This is the Sahara you pictured as a child — and you earn it, after several hours on the road from Marrakech or Fès. The giant dunes of Erg Chebbi Erg Chebbi is no stony desert: it is a true sea of fine sand, sculpted by the wind into crests that are redrawn every night. At dawn the sand is pink, at midday it turns golden, at sunset it deepens to ochre. Climbing a tall dune barefoot, sitting at the top and listening to the total silence — no engine noise, no phone signal — remains one of the strongest memories you bring home from Morocco. The bivouac and a night under the stars The real magic of Merzouga happens at night. Berber camps — from a simple bivouac to a luxury tent — are pitched in the heart of the dunes. After a tagine dinner around the fire, your hosts bring out the drums for an evening of Gnaoua and Berber music. Then you look up: far from any light pollution, the Milky Way stretches from one horizon to the other. You sleep little, watch for shooting stars, and wake well before dawn so as not to miss a thing. Sunrise, camel rides and 4x4 excursions The sunrise over Erg Chebbi is the highlight of the trip: the low light sets the crests alight one by one. Many reach the camp on camelback, in a caravan, at the slow pace that has always belonged to the desert. To go further, 4x4 excursions lead to nomad villages, black dunes and Lake Dayet Srji, where pink flamingos sometimes gather in spring. A detour through the town of Rissani and its bustling souk completes the picture. When to go to Merzouga The best seasons are spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November): warm but bearable days, cool nights and clear skies. In high summer the sand can turn scorching in the afternoon; in winter the nights in the dunes are genuinely cold — pack a down jacket even when the day is sunny. How to get there from Marrakech or Fès Merzouga is almost always visited on a 2 to 3-day circuit. From Marrakech, the road crosses the Tichka pass, skirts Aït-Ben-Haddou and then the Dadès and Todgha gorges before reaching the dunes — a stunning but long journey. From Fès, the route is more direct, via Ifrane and Midelt. Either way, you spend many hours in the car: better to travel light. The smart move: travel light into the dunes This is where the comfort of the whole trip is decided. There is no point dragging a large suitcase into a 4x4, then onto a camel, then under a tent: the sand gets everywhere and you only need a few things. Before leaving Marrakech, leave your big bag in a BoxSpot storage point and take only a small bag into the desert: warm clothes for the night, a scarf against the sand, sunscreen, a torch and water. You collect your suitcase on your way back, ready for the rest of the trip. Ready to head for the dunes without the load? Drop your big suitcase at a BoxSpot storage point in Marrakech, from 9 MAD per hour, before you set off for the desert — and travel light to Erg Chebbi.